A War Of Lies
by Ambiguous Enigma
Summary: Eddard Stark has been sent to The Wall. Tyrion Lannister has been murdered, and Jaime sets out to find out who arranged it. Robb Stark attemps to forge an alliance with the Greyjoys. Jon finds Benjen Beyond-The-Wall. Danny loses her dragon eggs. The Baratheon brothers unite to defeat the Lannisters while Tywin marshals his armies for defence, and Arya heads to Braavos with Syrio.
1. Catelyn I

"Lysa, as your sister I beg of you not to do this!"

"As _your _sister I thought you would understand why I would want to," Lysa Arryn replied sharply.

Catelyn threw her arms up in despair, "If what the Imp is accused of is true, then I would gladly allow you to do this, but we simply do not know."

Lysa stood abruptly from her throne, "for once use your brain, sister! Of course the halfman is responsible for this all. Who else would even dare attempt it?"

"I'm not saying he was not at all responsible for it, Lysa, I'm just saying that to kill him would be a grave mistake we would all suffer for," Catelyn reasoned.

"Oh?" Catelyn's sister exclaimed in exaggeration, "and how do I come into all of this?"

Catelyn sighed in defeat. There was simply no logical reasoning with her sister. Ever since her husband had died an untimely death in King's Landing, Lysa Arryn had been acting incredibly paranoid and stubborn.

Lysa lowered her voice finally, "I know you are a Stark now, Sister, but do not let their stubborn honor get in the way of what must be done."

Catelyn's eyes widened and her face went darker, "you think me being a Stark has anything to do with this? If you kill Tyrion Lannister, we will _all _be held responsible for it."

Lysa was clearly growing impatient and tiring of this conversation, "Catelyn, I do not wish to speak on this matter further. Remove yourself from this matter and leave the treacherous halfman to my justice."

_She is impossible to reason with!_

Catelyn took a deep breath and collected herself, "if you do this, Lysa, there will be nothing to stop the Lannisters from seeking vengeance, I swear to you."

Lysa shrugged casually, "so let them seek it, because they will not have it. The Eyrie will never fall."

Catelyn gave it one last try, "please, Lysa, you must not do this!"

Lysa sat back down on her throne and crossed her arms across her chest, giving her final, adamant decision, "no, Catelyn, he will not be spared."

"So be it, then," Catelyn responded quietly, turning and walking away from the throne and her sister without her leave.

_If Tyrion Lannister dies, the chances are, my family will to._

After inquiring about Tyrion Lannister's location to several of Lysa's more talkative castle guards, Catelyn discovered that the Imp that was being held in one of the skycells in the Eyrie dungeon. After slipping a small sack of gold to the gaoler, Mord, Catelyn was allowed to pass into Tyrion's cell untroubled. As she entered, the Lannister Imp looked up from his gazing out of the missing fourth wall.

"Lady Catelyn, what a pleasant surprise!"

Catelyn stood by the wall, eyeing him suspiciously, trying to figure out the truth of the accusations.

Tyrion continued, "Come to gloat, have you? Fitting, it would seem, such a small man like me with such a great, large view before me."

"Quiet your sarcasm, Lannister. If you knew what fate you were to have, I think you would be talking to me differently," before waiting for Tyrion to answer, Catelyn continued, "my sister means to have you killed for your accused crimes."

Tyrion did not seem much surprised, "well, you certainly are the bringer of good news and hope, Lady Catelyn."

Catelyn turned to make sure the door was closed and Mord was out of earshot before moving closer to Tyrion and saying in a quite tone, "I mean for you to escape the Eyrie, Tyrion Lannister."


	2. Eddard I

"...and my Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father," King Joffrey Baratheon looked from the massive crowd to Sansa Stark, a slight, warm smile beginning on her face, "and mercy he shall receive!"

Eddard Stark let out a huge sigh of relief as he was lifted from his knees by Ser Ilyn Payne, his would-be executioner. The many people watching on from the Sept of Baelor chanted, "_King Joffrey the Merciful!"_

Joffrey accepted the name with a smile and wave, but did not seem too happy about sparing Lord Eddard Stark. But as far as Eddard was concerned, Joffrey could go fuck himself with what made him happy. All that mattered to Eddard was that his daughter didn't see her own father killed. Eddard turned to see Sansa run towards him, but she was held back by two Kingsguard. One of them whispered something in her ear and it looked as if tears were forming in her eyes. Eddard knew he could do nothing else, so he smiled as warmly as he could at her. Sansa saw, and smiled back as best she could before Eddard was grabbed by the shoulders by two other Kingsguard and marched down the stairs of the stone podium.

"What will become of my daughter?" Eddard asked, in hope that him being labeled a traitor would mean Sansa would not have to marry Joffrey.

But he received no answer as the two Kingsguard pushed their way through the crowd and entered a dark, long alleyway. Pigeons fluttered away as the three men walked down the narrow line of closed up houses and shops. The hot sun cast shadows on the walls and ground while the cool breeze was cut off from them.

In a calmer tone than before, Eddard asked, "Where are you taking me?"

This time, he did get an answer, "city gates," one of the men escorting him replied, "you're going with the new recruits to The Wall."

"Lucky you," the other muttered sarcastically.

_Jon… _Eddard's first thought was. His second was: _and what about my daughters?_

The dirty, small courtyard was filled with new recruits for the Night's Watch, though right now they still looked like themselves: murderers, thieves, rapists. As they emerged from the alleyway at last, Eddard was roughly shoved by the Kingsguard that escorted him before they turned and marched back down the alleyway, hands on sword hilts.

Looking around himself, he estimated the courtyard must have been filled with least thirty people, most kids of twelve to sixteen; but he was only looking for one person: Yoren.

He spotted him leaning against the city gate wall, observing the group of new recruits with disgust. Eddard knew what he must be thinking and agreed; these were no men of the Night's Watch.

Shuffling through the crowd of criminals and bastards, Eddard approached Yoren. The rough looking crow looked up to see him and greeted him so: "ya look like shit, Stark."

Eddard looked around nervously, "my daughter…"

"She ain't here. Heard something about a Braavosi dancing teacher a little girl escaping the Red Keep though."

Eddard understood and nodded in relief. "When do we depart?" he asked. There was nothing he could do for Arya now.

"I'm just waiting for another two or so, and then we'll leave this shithole city."

Eddard looked around the courtyard again, taking in some of the faces and guessing why they were going to The Wall. He did this until one person immediately caught his attention; a young, strong looking lad. Then Eddard realized who it was: _Gendry. Robert's bastard…_

Yoren stepped past Eddard and started shouting, "Come on you sorry sons of whores! It's a thousand leagues from here to The Wall, and winter is coming!"

Carts started rolling, carriages moving, horses and donkeys trotting, and people walking. Eddard followed close behind Yoren as he led the new recruits of the Night's Watch out of the King's Landing city gate and onto the Kingsroad.


	3. Robb I

He emerged from the ship's sleeping quarters to find Pyke looming in the distance, its great stony cliffs poking out of the harsh ocean, unmistakable from afar. The rain had stopped, but the constant salty wind hadn't. Robb Stark paced the ship's deck and approached Theon, his elbows resting on the wooden railings, looking up eagerly at his former home. He didn't turn when Robb stopped next to him and began talking, "I've always wanted to see the Iron Island," Robb lied. He couldn't have cared less about them, but it was important to know where your potential enemies lay in relation to you.

Theon replied, "eleven years it's been. Eleven years since I've been home."

Robb stood in an awkward silence, not sure to what to that. It had been his father who had taken Theon Greyjoy as ward, not Robb. Robb had taken him as a brother and friend. "You're certain your father will help m… our cause?" Robb asked doubtfully.

"Don't worry Robb, I'm his son, of course he'll help us."

"But what will he have to gain, Theon? I have no doubt of your father's honor, but what will he get in return?" Robb asked desperately.

Theon shrugged, "you can give him a crown. Restore his honor and he'll love you and the North for it."

Robb thought about that for a moment. _Balon Greyjoy is an untrustworthy man, as mother had told me, but perhaps with the promise of wealth and power he might just accept._

Half an hour later the ship Robb and Theon were aboard docked at Pyke, and they departed immediately. Robb was wearing his battle armor covered in a black and grey wolf fur cloak, with his sword at his side, while Theon was wearing a combination of lavish and expensive furs, wools and leathers. He bore the kraken sigil of House Greyjoy on his chest so that it was clear to see.

_He's obviously trying to make a show of his arrival._

They traversed the rocky shoreline and mud-soaked paths from the docks in silence. As usual for the Iron Islands, it was a grey, overcast day, quite reflective of Robb's mood at that time. He was most definitely _not _looking forward to meeting Balon Greyjoy, Theon's father and lord of the Iron Islands. The requests that Robb was bringing on behalf of his war efforts in the north did not seem to likely to appeal to Balon Greyjoy at all, but Robb had to at least try. If the Starks managed to bring the Greyjoy's into the war to fight on their side, Robb and his armies would have a massive host of ship fleets in the sea at his command. They would absolutely crush the Lannister's on a naval front. But of course, this all depended on Robb being able to convince the lord of the Iron Islands- Balon Greyjoy- Theon's father, that it would be to his benefit to accept the terms of alliance.

"Oh shit," Theon muttered as he stopped walking.

Robb tried to find what caused this reaction in Theon, but couldn't. "What is it, Theon?"

"My sister…" He replied without looking away from the weather-worn wooden buildings to their left. A plain looking woman dressed entirely in rusted iron armor and brown boiled leather strode confidently across the mud smeared path and towards Robb and Theon. She had a large smile on her face as she drew near.

"Theon!" She called out.

"Asha," Theon said grudgingly.

She stopped in front of them, "how long has it been little brother?"

"You know how long…" Theon muttered quietly.

"Yes, of course, all glorious eleven years it's been," Asha replied before turning to Robb, "and who's this companion of yours Theon? I always figured you liked the men, but to bring one _here_?"

Theon's face went darkly angry, "I am not…" he calmed himself by taking a deep breath, "this is Robb Stark, Eddard Stark's son. I'm here to bring him to father to discuss the terms of an alliance."

At the mention of Eddard Stark's name, Asha's face grew very dark. Eleven years ago, when Balon Greyjoy rebelled against the north, Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon had crushed his rebellion and killed two of his sons, taking the other, Theon, as a ward. "You dare bring a Stark _here_? Have you lost complete sense?"

Theon ignored this, "where is father, I must speak to him?"

Asha grudgingly told him before turning to see Robb and Theon walk away down the coastline.

"That went well…" Robb stated sarcastically.

"Ignore her," Theon replied, "she can be a bit of a cunt when she's pissy."


	4. Jaime I

JAIME

He strode confidently down the stretch of the Red Keep's main hall, never taking his eyes off the Iron Throne, its rusted, melted down iron swords protruding out the top of it.

_So many kings have sat there; and all of them have met the same fate._

Ser Jaime Lannister's golden plated armor reflected the sunlight that poured through the open shafts high on the walls, and with every footfall his heavy armor rung and shuffled.

He never heard the soft footsteps of the man behind him, and didn't even know he was there until the man said, "Ahh, Ser Jaime, I thought I might find you here."

Jaime Lannister turned to see Lord Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish standing with his arms folded across his chest, holding some sort of black, leather bound book.

"Lord Baelish," Jaime replied curtly. In the truth, he couldn't stand the man. He held so many lies and secrets it was a wonder he was able to keep them all in order.

Littlefinger drew closed, "I suppose you've heard the news of Lord Eddard Stark?"

"Right now I'd say he's only lord of the shit and piss stained wagon he's riding in to The Wall," Jaime replied dryly.

"Yes, quite right," Littlefinger said, "I was wondering if you'd have time to discuss with me the Stark girl."

"Which one?" Jaime asked, not particularly interested in talking of Starks, especially not since Joffrey's out of character mercy of letting Eddard Stark live and be sent to The Wall.

"Sansa, the eldest," Lord Baelish answered, "It occurs to me that his Grace the king marrying a traitor's daughter would look quite strange, don't you agree?"

"This is common knowledge among every knight, beggar and whore, so what's your point?"

Littlefinger smiled, "perhaps something should be done about the girl…"

"I'll not have her killed, if that's what you're referring to, Lord Baelish, she's to prized a prisoner for that."

"That I am well aware of, Ser. What I was referring to was the idea that it might be best to take her from King's Landing to somewhere more…secure," Littlefinger hesitated before saying the last word.

"And this place would be?"

"Perhaps Casterly Rock, Ser Jaime?"

"No," Jaime said almost immediately, "my lord father would see to it that that never happens, Lord Baelish. If we move the Stark girl there, not only would we cancel her marriage to Joffrey, we would also line Casterly Rock up for attack from any Stark with half a brain."

"If Stannis takes King's Landing…"

"We'll throw a boatload of whores at him and send him on his way. Excuse me, Lord Baelish, I have more pressing matters to discuss with the Queen," and with that Jaime turned and continued walking towards the throne, before taking a left and heading under an archway to a stairwell that would lead him to Cersei's chambers.

Opening the door to his sister's bedchamber he felt tired. _All of this business with Ned Stark is driving me to frustration._

He found Cersei seated solemnly at a small table on the other side of the room. A flagon of wine lay on the table, as well as two glasses. _We don't normally drink first._

"Sweet Sister," Jaime greeted her.

She lifted her hands from her lap to reveal she was holding a piece of parchment. She placed it on the table and gestured for Jaime to sit down and join her.

"It's Tyrion," she said quietly.

"He's been released?" Jaime asked, knowing it was incredibly unlikely.

She shook her head, saying nothing.

Puzzled, Jaime approached the table and picked up the piece of paper, reading over it. As he read more and more of it his eyes slowly widened and he halted breathing.

"Tyrion…" He muttered to himself, "seven gods Tyrion…"


	5. Arya I

**ARYA**

"Run boy!"

Arya did as her dancing master Syrio had told her and bolted out the door, making sure she still had her wooden training sword.

_Swift as a deer._

Syrio was following right behind her, before he put an arm on her shoulder and stopped her, "wait her, child, I must collect something."

"But the Lannisters…" Arya started saying.

"If they come before I am back, run," he told her.

She nodded as he turned and disappeared through a door to her left. Arya shifted from foot to foot nervously, wondering how long it would take him until he would be back. She turned to check behind her in case anybody was approaching, but the hallway was empty save for her.

Finally Syrio reemerged from the door, carrying to swords with him. He held onto one while he gave the other to Arya. It was a shortsword, but a very sharp and deadly looking one at that. She felt a little bit safer holding onto a weapon now.

"Come, child, we must leave now," Syrio said, leading the way down the hallway.

She followed, until he suddenly flattened himself against the brick wall and slowly edged towards an opened doorway. Arya did the same, but made sure she was hidden next to Syrio. She tightened her grip on the sword hilt as she waited for Syrio to do or say something. He peeked carefully around the corner before snapping his head back around. He turned to Arya and whispered, "Soldiers, dressed in red. We must be careful getting past child."

Arya nodded before Syrio swiftly and gracefully spun and flattened himself onto the wall on the other side of the doorway. He motioned for Arya to do the same, but as she was about to, she heard loud voices from inside the room.

"Where is this girl?"

"Fucked if I know, it's like she just disappeared."

"Well we ain't 'leavin till we find the bitch, so get looking."

_Quick as a snake._

She tried as best as she could to imitate what Syrio had done, but accidently knocked the edge of the door with her foot, stumbling slightly before regaining control and darting to where Syrio was. But she was too late, as the soldiers in the room had obviously heard something, as they pulled their swords from their sheaths turned to see what the commotion was.

"Out there!" One of the said.

"After you," the other responded.

She heard the two soldiers slowly approach the doorway, and eventually their shadows as they drew even closer.

_Fear cuts deeper than swords._

Arya braced herself and raised her shortsword as the two soldiers turned out of the doorway… only to be met by Syrio's longsword sweeping down in an arc and slicing one of the two men down diagonally through the chest. He shouted and fell backwards, tumbling onto the floor in a heap. The second soldier saw this and reacted quickly, but not quickly enough, as Syrio had swung his sword around for a second strike, this one slashing the soldier once and then twice across the stomach. He let out a large gasp before falling to his knees and then face first onto the floor.

Arya stood motionless as Syrio cut down the men, looking down at the dead bodies as a pool of blood began flowing from the corpses.

"Hurry child, it is time for us to go."

It was utter chaos outside the Red Keep, with red cloaks dashing about the courtyard, weapons drawn. Some were kicking open doors and storming inside while others were busy looting corpses of weapons and valuables. Save for the red cloaks, Arya and Syrio, everybody was dead, gold cloaks and civilians alike. Neither Arya nor Syrio had any idea what the meaning of all this bloodshed was. The two of them hurried quietly and ducked behind a concrete railing, pondering over what to do next.

"Syrio, what are we going to do? The Queen's men are everywhere?"

Syrio put a finger to his lips, "Shh, girl, it will not do us good to be discovered."

After a minute of waiting and not being discovered by any red cloaks, Syrio motioned for Arya to follow him quickly.

They darted across an open area under the roofed area of the courtyard and went down low as they reached the other side, careful to avoid detection. After a while of searching bodies and rooms, the red cloaks decided to abandon the stone courtyard and stream out through an exit heading into the city.

Arya let out a sigh of relief, "Syrio, we must find my father and sister before they get hurt or caught."

"No, child, I'm afraid we must leave without them. There is nothing we can do for them now."

Arya could not accept this answer, "but…"

"There are two of us only, not nearly enough to stage some extravagant rescue for your family."

"So what are we going to do, escape the city?"

Syrio turned to her and smiled, "just so."


	6. Eddard II

The small crowd of new Night's Watch recruits filed along the narrow dirt path leading through the forest. Thirty two recruits there were in total, Yoren had said, though Eddard doubted they would be use at The Wall. Petty criminals, cravens and bastards made up the likes of the party heading along the Kingsroad, and all of them looked as gloomy and pissed off as ever. Eddard rode a tired but stern horse next to Yoren, who was also riding.

"So tell me Stark," Yoren started, "what exactly do you plan to do when we get to The Wall, eh?"

"I plan to be a loyal member of the Night's Watch, of course," Eddard replied, as if the answer was shared by everybody.

"Aye," Yoren nodded, "but what about 'ya daughters? Just gonna leave 'em in that shithole of a city?"

Eddard bowed his head low and said quietly, "there's nothing I can do for them now, I'm afraid. Arya's got away, thank the gods, but Sansa will just have to stay strong."

The afternoon sun flickered through the overhead trees and cast deep shadows and areas of warmth down upon them, but it was still quite cool traversing through the massive forest. They passed several rivers and streams, where Yoren allowed them to stop briefly to get some water and have a quick rest. Just as they were about to continue their march, several of the new recruits shouted a warning of some sort back to the others. Yoren and Eddard heard and pushed their way through the small group to where the commotion was coming from.

"Gold cloaks!" A couple of recruits were shouting, "Gold cloaks coming up the road!"

"Bloody idiots," Yoren muttered before heading to the front of the crowd with Eddard following.

Sure enough, two horses came trotting up the dirt road in front of them, gold cloaks riding on them with hands on sword hilts. As they drew nearer, Yoren stepped out in front of them, his hand on his sword hilt as well.

The two horses stopped in front of him and one of the gold cloaks said, "We're here on the Queen's orders to take a bastard by the name of Gendry back to King's Landing."

Yoren nodded slowly, "maybe so, but I'm on orders from the Night's Watch to take these recruits to The Wall, and the Night's Watch don't give a piss about your bloody queen's orders."

The other gold cloak spoke up, "hand us the bastard Gendry and we'll be on our way. We don't want any trouble caused."

"Aye, you don't," Yoren replied, taking a step closer and drawing his sword half from its sheath with a hiss.

The gold cloaks eyed the sword and Yoren before finally seeming to make a decision, "very well then, crow. We'll be back soon, and if you don't give us the bloody boy, we'll kill all of you."

Yoren just smiled mockingly as the two gold cloaks turned their horses and spurred them back the way they came. Yoren, Eddard and the rest of the recruits stood their silently, watching, until the gold cloaks and their horses were out of sight.

Finally Yoren turned, "get back to the road 'ya useless shits, we've got a lot of ground to cover, and quickly now to."

Eddard turned and walked with Yoren back to the temporary campsite, "do you know who this Gendry is, Yoren?"

"I don't, and I don't care either. He's joining the Night's Watch, that's all that matters."

Eddard briefly contemplated what he was about to say next before eventually deciding to reveal the truth, "he's Robert Baratheon's bastard."

Yoren's reaction was much more underwhelming than Eddard had expected, "that makes things clearer now, I suppose, but it still don't matter. He's gonna be a brother of the Watch soon, both of 'ya."

Eddard nodded and slung himself back over his horse as the group began their journey once again. He knew the gold cloaks would be back, and when they were, they would not be asking politely.

_We best be prepared for battle, _Eddard thought.


End file.
